Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC: A Look at the Difficulty Debate
The release of Elden Ring's highly anticipated Shadow of the Erdtree expansion sparked a heated online discussion about its difficulty. Many players, both seasoned veterans and newcomers, voiced concerns that the DLC's new bosses were excessively challenging, even overpowered. Johan Pilestedt, CCO of Arrowhead Game Studios (developers of Helldivers 2), weighed in on FromSoftware's design philosophy.
Pilestedt, also the creative director of Helldivers 2, publicly agreed with streamer Rurikhan's assessment that FromSoftware intentionally creates difficult bosses to provide a significant challenge. He emphasized that impactful game design prioritizes evoking strong emotional responses in players above all else. Addressing concerns that this approach alienates a large portion of the player base, Pilestedt succinctly stated, "a game for everyone is a game for no one," advocating for developers to remain focused on their target audience.
Helldivers 2 Developer's Perspective on Elden Ring's Difficulty
FromSoftware's Hidetaka Miyazaki had already forewarned players in pre-release interviews that Shadow of the Erdtree would be demanding, even for experienced Elden Ring players. He explained that the DLC's boss balancing assumed players had significant progress in the main game. FromSoftware also analyzed player feedback from the base game, noting which boss encounters were perceived as enjoyable and which caused frustration.
Shadow of the Erdtree introduced the Scadutree Blessing mechanic, boosting player damage and reducing damage taken in the Land of Shadow. Despite this in-game explanation, many players seemingly overlooked or forgot about it, prompting Bandai Namco to remind players to utilize and level up this crucial mechanic amidst the wave of difficulty complaints.
While Shadow of the Erdtree achieved the highest rating of any video game DLC on OpenCritic, surpassing even The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's Blood and Wine, its Steam reception has been more divisive. Negative reviews frequently cited both the challenging difficulty and the introduction of technical problems.
